(1) Mwen kontan pou m vini la ak nou jodi a nan sa ki pral make nan listwa kòm pi gwo demonstrasyon pou lalibète nan listwa nasyon nou an.

(2) Gen santan (100) pase, yon gran Ameriken, jodi a se nan lonbray senbolik li nou kanpe, te siyen Pwoklamasyon pou Libète moun. Kokennchenn dekrè sila a te vini kòm yon gwo klate limyè espwa pou plizyè milyon esklav nèg ki t ap boule nan flanm lenjistis ki te konmanse ap etenn piti piti. Sa te rive tankou yon douvanjou lakontantman ki t ap met fen nan long lannwit lesklavay la.

(3) Men, santan (100) apre sa, nèg nwè poko lib; santan apre sa, nèg nwè toujou ap mennen yon lavi k tris akòz minòt divizyon ant ras ak chenn diskriminasyon; santan apre sa, nèg nwè yo toujou viv sou yon zile pòv ki byen lwen pou kont li nan mitan yon vas lanmè pwosperite materyèl; santan apre sa moun nwa yo rete ap jemi nan yon kwen nan sosyete ameriken an epi yo twouve yo egzile nan peyi pa yo menm.

(4) Konsa, nou vini isit jodi a pou n prezante yon kondisyon lawont. Nan yon sans, nou vini nan kapital nasyon nou an pou n chanje yon chèk. Lè achitèk repiblik nou an te ekri bèl mo Konstitisyon an ak Deklarasyon Endepandans lan, yo t ap siyen yon tèks ki te pwomèt tout moun, wi, moun nwa menm jan ak moun blan, yo t ap genyen yon seri dwa san mank, pèsonn moun pa ka wete nan men yo: lavi, libète ak dwa pou yo chache kè kontan.

(5) Jodi a, sa byen klè: Etazini manke pawòl li nan sa l te pwomèt la, parapò ak ni sitwayen po wouj ni sitwayen po nwa yo. Olye l ta respèkte obligasyon sakre sila a, Etazini te bay pèp nwa a yon move chèk; yon chèk ki retounen ak mo “pa gen ase kòb nan kanè a.” Nou refize kwè pa gen ase kòb nan gwo kès opòtinite peyi sa a. Vwala nou vini pou n pran kòb sou chèk sila a, yon chèk ki pral ban nou sa n ap mande a: richès libète ak sekirite lajistis.

(6) Nou vini nan lye respè sa a tou, pou n fè Etazini sonje ijans grav ki genyen nan moman an. Se pa lè ni pou nou rete byen vag ni pou n lage sa, ni pou n pran dwòg tèt vid la, sa vle di konpòtman kalewès sa a: “n ap fè bagay yo piti piti.” Kounyeya, se lè pou n fè pwomès demokrasi a vin yon reyalite; kounyeya se lè pou n leve sòti nan vale fènwa ak dezolasyon divizyon ant ras an pou n kanpe nan chimen gran limyè jistis pou tout ras; kounyeya se lè pou n fè nasyon an sòti anba kòd enjistis rasyal la pou l kanpe sou wòch solid ki di nou tout se frè ak sè; kounyeya, se lè pou n fè jistis vin yon reyalite pou tout pitit Bondye. Sa ta dilere pou nasyon an ta neglije ijans ki genyen nan moman an. Kalte lete gwo chalè sa a, ki lakòz moun nwa pa ka gen kè kontan e ak rezon, kalte lete sa a pa pral pase toutotan pa gen yon lotòn lalibète ak egalite ki vin ak fòs.

(7) Diznèf san swasanntwa (1963) se pa yon fen, men yon konmansman. E moun ki espere nèg nwè annik te bezwen pou yo fè yon ti bri epi apre sa yo pral kontante yo, moun sa yo pral pantan si nasyon an retounen mennen zafè l jan l te konn fè l la.

(8) P ap gen ni repo ni kè pòpòz nan Etazini toutotan yo pa bay Nèg nwè tout dwa l kòm sitwayen. Gwo van leve kanpe sa a pral kontinye sekwe fondman nasyon nou an jouk jou gran limyè jistis la rive. Men gen yon bagay mwen dwe di pèp mwen an ki kanpe bò papòt antre palè jistis la. Etan n ap vanse nan reklamasyon lejitim nou yo, nou pa gen pou n poze okenn move zak.

(9) Nou pa bezwen chache pase swaf lalibète nou an, nan bwè nan tas anmè rayisman an. Nou bezwen toujou mennen batay nou an byen wo nan plato diyite ak disiplin. Nou p ap bezwen kite bonjan pwotestasyon nou yo tounen vyolans fizik. Se plis e pi plis nou dwe monte nan pi wo nivo ki ka genyen pou kontre fòs krazebrize yo gras a fòs nanm nou.

(10) Bèl fòs kouray k ap vale teren nan kominote Nèg nwè yo pa dwe fè n pèdi tout konfyans nan blan yo, pase anpil nan frè ak sè blan nou yo – prèv la se prezans yo isit la jodi a – vin reyalize pwòp desten yo mare ak desten pa nou, epi yo vin reyalize libète yo mare nèt ak libète pa nou. Ofans sa a, nou pataje li pou n pran ranpa lenjistis yo daso, nou dwe avanse nan yon lame ki birasyal (sa vle di ki gen de (2) ras ladan l). Nou pa ka mache tousèl.

(11) E pannan n ap mache, nou dwe fè sèman pou n toujou mache pou pi douvan. Nou pa ka fè bak. Gen moun k ap mande patizan dwa sivil yo: “Kilè nou pral satisfè?” Nou pa ka janm satisfè toutan Nèg se viktim britalite matchavèl ak vyolans lapolis.

(12) Nou pa ka janm satisfè toutan kò nou ki vin lou, ki bouke nan yon vwayaj, pa ka jwenn okenn kote nan motèl bò wout machin, ni nan oswa lotèl lavil. Nou pa ka satisfè toutan kapasite mouvman Nèg la se sòti nan yon katye lamizè k piti pou al nan yon katye lamizè k pi gwo.

(13) Nou pa ka satisfè toutan bonnanj timoun nou yo santi fyète yo ap rache epi diyite yo anba pye ak pano ki ekri: “pou blan sèlman.” Nou pa ka satisfè toutan Nèg nan Misisipi pa ka vote epi yon Nèg nan Nou Yòk kwè li pa gen anyen pou li ta vote. Non, nou pa satisfè, e nou pa pral satisfè jistan jistis koule kou dlo e ladwati kou yon gwo larivyè.

(14) M pa bliye pami nou gen moun ki vini la a ki sot pase twòp tray ak tribilasyon. Pami nou gen k sòti dirèk nan ti kacho prizon. Pami nou gen k sòti nan zòn kote demach pou libète fè yon tanpèt pèsekisyon toupizi yo epi van vyolans lapolis rann yo toudi. Ou se veteran soufrans sa yo. Kontinye travay, ak lafwa soufrans nou pa t merite a se lagras li ye.

(15) Tounen nan Misisipi; tounen nan Alabama; tounen nan Karolin di Sid, tounen nan Djòdja; tounen nan Louwizyann; tounen nan katye lamizè nan gwo lavil nò yo, kenbe sa nan tèt nou: wè pa wè, sitiyasyon sa a kab chanje. An n pa benyen nan labou vale dezespwa.

(16) Pou sa, mwen di nou, zanmi m yo, menm lè nou kapab rankontre difikilte jodi ak demen yo, mwen toujou gen yon rèv. Se yon rèv ki rasinen nan fon rèv ameriken an epi ki di yon jou nasyon sa a va levekanpe epi li va viv vrè sans kwayans li: “nou kwè sa yo se verite ki klè nèt, tout moun sou tè a fèt egalego.”

(17) Mwen gen yon rèv yon jou sou mòn wouj nan Eta Djòdja yo, pitit ansyen esklav ak pitit ansyen esklavajis pral kapab chita ansanm bò tab linite.

(18) Mwen gen yon rèv yon jou, menm eta Misisipi a, yon Eta k ap bouyi ak chalè dife lenjistis, k ap bouyi ak chalè mechanste, pral transfòme pou l tounen yon sous dlo libète ak jistis.

(19) Mwen gen yon rèv yon jou kat ti pitit mwen yo pral viv nan yon nasyon kote yo pa pral jije yo dapre koulè po yo men dapre karaktè yo. Mwen gen yon rèv jodi a!

(20) Mwen gen yon rèv yon jou, nan Alabama, ak michan rasis li yo, ak gouvenè li a ki genyen pobouch li k ap bave vye pawòl konfizyon ak imilyasyon, yon jou, menm isit nan Alabama, ti gason nwa ak ti fi nwa pral kapab mete men nan men ti gason blan ak ti fi blan tankou frè ak sè. Mwen gen yon rèv jodi a!

(21) Mwen gen yon rèv yon jou chak vale pral monte byen wo, chak kolin, chak mòn pral desann ba, kote k rèd yo pral vin soup, kote k kwochi pral vin drèt epi laglwa Seyè a pral parèt aklè epi tout je pral wè sa ansanm.
Sa se espwa n. Sa se lafwa m pral pote avè m nan Sid la. Ak lafwa sa a, nou pral kapab fè mòn dezespwa a tounen yon gwo wòch espwa. Ak lafwa sa a, n ap kapab transfòme vye bwi zizani nasyon nou an pou fè l tounen yon bèl mizik tèt ansanm.

(22) Avèk lafwa sa a, n a ka travay ansanm, lapriyè ansanm, lite ansanm, al nan prizon ansanm, kanpe pou lalibète ansanm, paske nou konnen nou pral lib yon jou. Sa pral jou kote tout timoun Bondye va kapab chante ak yon nouvo sans – “peyi mwen, se pou ou, peyi dous libète; se pou ou m ap chante; peyi kote papa nou mouri, peyi fyète premye abitan blan yo; sou tout do mòn, kite libète sonnen” – si Etazini gen pou l yon gran nasyon, sa a bezwen vin yon reyalite.

(23) Kite lalibète sonnen nan kokennchenn zòn wo nivo moun rele Nou Anmchè.

(24) Kite lalibète sonnen sou tèt gwo mòn Nou Yòk.

(25) Kite lalibète sonnen nan kote k fè ou pèdi souf nan Alègini nan Pennsilvani.

(26) Kite lalibète sonnen nan pwent tèt mòn Roki yo ki kouvri ak lanèj nan Kòlorado.

(27) Kite lalibète sonnen nan pant ki fè koub nan Kalifòni.

(28) Men se pa sèlman sa.

(29) Kite lalibète sonnen nan Mòn Stòn nan Georgia Djòdja.

(30) Kite lalibète sonnen nan Loukawout Mòn nan Tenesi.

(31) Kite lalibète sonnen nan tout mòn ak bit Misisipi yo, sou chak tèt mòn yo, kite lalibète sonnen.

(32) E lè nou kite lalibète sonnen, lè nou kite l sonnen nan tout bouk ak seksyon riral, nan chak eta, nan chak vil, nou pral kab fè jou sa a rive pi vit, kote tout timoun Bondye yo – moun nwa ak moun blan, jwif ak sa k pa jwif, katolik ak pwotestan – pral kapab mache men nan men pou yo chante yon ansyen chante Nèg, “Lib anfen, lib anfen; mèsi Bondye Toupisan, nou lib anfen.”

Tradiksyon:
Benjamin Hebblethwaite ak Nicolas André

(1) I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

(2) Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

(3) But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the “midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

(4) So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(5) It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

(6) We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all God’s children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

(7) Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.

(8) There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.

(9) Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

(10) The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. This offense we share mounted to storm the battlements of injustice must be carried forth by a biracial army. We cannot walk alone.

(11) And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

(12) We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways, and the hotels of the cities. We cannot, be satisfied, as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

(13) We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “for whites only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

(14) I am not unmindful that some of you come here out of excessive trials and tribulation. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

(15) Go back to Mississippi; go back to Alabama; go back to South Carolina; go back to Georgia; go back to Louisiana; go back to the slums and ghettos of the northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

(16) So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed – we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal

(17) I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

(18) I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

(19) I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

(20) I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious t racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day, right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

(21) I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

(22) With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning – “my country ‘tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride; from every mountain side, let freedom ring” – and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

(23) So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

(24) Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

(25) Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

(26) Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

(27) Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

(28) But not only that.

(29) Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

(30) Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

(31) Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

(32) And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants – will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

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